On Monday, the Security Council adopted a resolution designating the Houthi militia a “terrorist group” and imposing an arms embargo on them.
The resolution, proposed by the UAE, expands the UN arms embargo on several Houthi leaders, to include the entire movement.
The council approved the resolution after 11 votes approved it, while the remaining four council members, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil and Norway, abstained from voting.
The resolution condemned the cross-border attacks launched by the terrorist Houthi militia against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and called on the militias to immediately cease hostilities.
Reasons for classifying the Houthis
The UN Security Council, in its Resolution No. 2624, revealed the reasons that led to the classification of the Houthis as a “terrorist group” for the first time, as it said that the Houthi group launched cross-border attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, calling for an immediate halt to such attacks.
He also confirmed that the Houthis have committed a wide range of violations against Yemenis and the international community, including attacks on civilians, the use of sexual violence, the recruitment and exploitation of children, the use of landmines, and the obstruction of humanitarian access.
The resolution highlighted the Houthi attacks on commercial cargo ships in the Red Sea, and the repeated terrorist attacks they carried out across the border, stressing the transfer of weapons to the Houthis from outside Yemen in contravention of the United Nations resolution banning the supply of arms to Yemen, calling on member states to intensify efforts to combat the smuggling of weapons and their components through Land and sea routes.
The Security Council also condemned in the strongest terms the increasing number of attacks on civilian and commercial ships, and the seizure of commercial ships off the coast of Yemen, explaining that attacks on commercial ships are subject to sanctions, and calling for the release of the crew of a ship flying the UAE flag “Rawabi”.
Yemeni political analyst Abdul Sattar Al-Shamiri said that the decision represents a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist militia, and “will besiege Iranian support for the putschists.”
Al-Shamiri added in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, that “the Security Council’s decision will besiege any companies and countries proven to smuggle or supply weapons to Houthi.”
He stated that the UAE was able, thanks to its soft diplomacy and political astuteness, to issue this resolution in the Security Council, noting that “these are important decisions, and the result of a qualitative and vigorous Emirati diplomatic activity that is ably managed.”
Regarding the decision’s classification of the Houthi militia as a terrorist group, he considered this “an important step and a clear message that will limit the militia’s terrorism and prevent Iranian financial and military support for it.”
Praises and Yemeni joy
On the other hand, the Yemeni government welcomed the designation of the Houthi militia as a terrorist group and its inclusion in the Security Council sanctions list, praising the council’s exertion of more pressure on it by issuing the resolution.
“This decision limits the military capabilities of this terrorist group and works to stop Iranian support for it, including arms smuggling, which prolongs the war and exacerbates the humanitarian crisis,” it said in a statement.
The Yemeni government pointed out that the decision will work to reduce Houthi violations, and their threat to the security and safety of international shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
She stressed that “the issuance of this decision represents a positive step in order to put pressure on the Houthi militias to abandon the option of war and return to the path of peace.”
Yemeni Parliament Speaker Sultan al-Barakani wrote on his Twitter account, saying, “The Security Council’s decision carried a clear and clear message to subject the Houthi group to sanctions and label it a terrorist group.”
Al-Barakani stated that the decision was taken following the cross-border attacks of the Houthi terrorist militia on the lands of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, its involvement in violations against Yemenis and the international community, its maritime piracy and all its hostile actions.
As for the Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Army, Lieutenant-General Saghir bin Aziz, he said that designating the militias as a terrorist group represents an “advanced step to eradicate terrorism from the country,” adding in his account on “Twitter”, that Security Council Resolution 2424 “carries many indications, most notably the international community’s rejection of all Types of Houthi terrorism.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, said that the decision “confirms the conviction that has been established in the international community regarding the practices of the terrorist Houthi militia, and the international consensus to support a political solution based on the three references represented in the Gulf Initiative, the outcomes of the Dialogue Conference, and Security Council resolutions.”
The victory of Emirati diplomacy
The Security Council resolution represents a new victory for Emirati diplomacy, as it came about 5 days after the US Treasury imposed sanctions on an international network that funds the Houthi coup militia in Yemen.
It also comes about a month after the UN Security Council issued a statement on January 21 that unanimously condemned the terrorist attacks of the Houthis that targeted civilian facilities in the UAE.
These successive international decisions culminate in Emirati efforts on more than one level to put an end to the terrorism of the Houthi group and its financiers, according to experts, which was expressed by the Director of the Media Center for the Southern Giants Brigades in Yemen, Aseel Al-Saqladi, by saying: “The UAE has achieved successive and unparalleled diplomatic successes after the Security Council resolution designating the Houthis as a terrorist group.
In turn, Yemeni writer and political analyst Muhammad Jumaih said: “In terms of diplomacy, this is an achievement that requires strict mechanisms to implement its articles, especially with regard to arms smuggling.”
In the same context, political analyst Yahya Jameh considered that the UN resolution is a sweeping political victory achieved by the UAE by adopting its project submitted to the Security Council and classifying the Houthis as a terrorist group.
In an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, Jameh indicated that “the Security Council resolution will internationally prosecute all parties and entities involved in arms sales or smuggling to the Houthi terrorist militia, while ensuring that they do not go unpunished.”